DOMINION'S PART.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 December 1916, Page 5

DOMINION'S PART.

TREATMENT OF VVOTOTOEB SOLDIERS. STATEMENT BY MINISTER. ' By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Dec. 0, „7 In view of the fact tlmt continual ei< qfiries are being received as to the procedure to bo followed in tlie treatment of our wounded soldiers in England, the Minister of Defence has issued the following statement for general informc ti"!i: — Whenever possible, casualties among l the New Zealand expeditionary force,art transferred from the front to England, and it frequently happens that our soldiers are comfortably settled in English h'»pilulH within 2+ bourn of their beinf| wounded in Fiance. Upon arrival in Fngland, New Zealand soldiers are sent". (11 To the New Zealand General Hospl tal No. 1, Erockenlmrst, which has 150Cj bfds, with a separate building contain-, ing 150 'beds for officer.;: or (2) to the New Zealand General Hospital (No. 2), Valton-on-Thames, which has 520 beds; cr '3) to one ol the many British milltiny hospitals situated throughout the United Kingdom. Regulations have been issued by the War Oflica that New Zealand soldiers should be concentrated in as few hospital! as possible, so it is an exception fdr New Zealanderc to be located in,a hospital without their fellow countrymen, l'roni the hospitals many of our soldiers are drafted to the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital at llornchurcli, where there are 102.) beds Here, the patients are divided into three classes: "A" fit for service; "B" likely to be fit for service within six months: "C" not likely to be fit within six months. Soldiers in elwi C are returned direct to New Zealand as oj'i ortunity oficrs. while those in chisses A Mid li are transferred to the command <"c|jnt at Codford, where they are divided up into live, different squads. The first of these contains only men fit for general service who, after 14 days trial, are sent lo join the reserve group at .Sling eamp, situated on Salisbury Plain, :.nd soldiers arc detailed to other squads, ("■. voiding to their physical fitness, until eventually they are passed as fit through their squad. At the Reserve Group at Sling are located the reinforcements as they arrive iron; New Zealand, and from here New Z.'.: landers cross to the New Zealand infantry base depot in France, en route to tli-.: New Zealand division and thl benches. Soldiers who require hospital treat rient while at Sling camp or the Codfori Command Depot are treated in No. 5 New Zealand Hospital, Codford, whicb ha 4 350 beds. 'I lie above figures are not exactly correct.. as the hospital accommodation has recently been increased, but it is anticipated this statement will supply general information o' much interest fo thOje who have relatives at the front.